Phoenix Ignited
by Schimmel
Summary: The destruction of Leafre cost Schimmel his hometown, his father, and his mother's sanity. When Schimmel sets out to become a hunter and vows to one day liberate his real home again, he finds out the attack wasn't as simplistic as it seemed.
1. Prologue

**Maple Story Fanfic: Phoenix Ignited**

** Prologue**

Hey there. My name is Schimmel, but most people just call me Schim. I'm writing this book, with alot of help from my friend Nemo, from the fantastic world of Maple. From the grassy plains of Henesys all the way to the Snowy Cliffs of El Nath, this place is swarming with magic. And monsters. The monsters aren't too big a deal though, at least not anymore. They're the reason that the guilds exist. In this world, the population of the monsters are taken control of by these guilds, though not exterminated completely, as we need them around too. It's complicated. Just keep reading.

Back to the point, this book has been created by Nemo and myself for the purpose of documenting the activities of the Phoenix Ignited guild and their actions during what is now called the Dark Era, as our actions were shrouded in much mystery and doubt, not without good reason. We apologize for not having this done sooner, but during the writing of this we only have access to some pencils, erasers, and lots of paper.

The Dark Era, now defined as the years from 1313 until 1331, was named such due to a sudden outbreak of strange monsters that seemed to stem from the heart of Ludibrium. Guilds were sent to investigate, but often they wouldn't return. The few who did come back alive told all different stories, but none were believed as they were thought to be insane. The Dark Era has now ended at last, and now Nemo and I have a story to tell.


	2. 1: Who are you, anyway?

**Chapter 1**

I suppose it all started way back when I first decided to become a hunter. The name hunter is given to those who have joined a guild and do monster hunts for a living. Well, my father was apparently a hunter also, though I never knew him, so when I first picked up a sword at the age of 17 I felt like I could already handle it without hurting someone. At the age of 20, I'm still no better than I was when I started, however. I lived in Orbis city on the continent of Ossyria with my mother and sister. I had to travel across the island of Victoria and sail to yet another island before I could receive my title as hunter and find a job as part of a guild. The island off the coast of Kerning city on Victoria called Maple Island was where I had to be, and a boat from Lith Harbous was how I was to get there. The island was named after the entire world because it is perceived as the 'heart' of the world. The place where hunters were born that kept the world from crashing. It was that impression I was under when I arrived, so I was pretty let-down when I actually finally arrived there.

I stepped off the boat, down the plank and into the port town of Southperry after having just changed into my black t-shirt and blue jeans. I had the sword that my father had given me held in its sheath around my shoulder, and my wavy blonde hair in a bed-head mess down to my shoulders. I looked around and found the place didn't fit its description of a heart at all. It was a simple port made of regular old stone, and with a quick look I'd guess there was about ten houses or so, also made of stone. Whoever lived here had to be really poor, or just using the houses for vacation homes.

"So do you know your way over to the Mushroom Town Training Camp? Not often that there's only one person coming over for the day." Shanks asked me. He was the owner for the ferry from Victoria to Maple Island. He was a quirky character who dressed up with pirate gear.

"Yeah, I'll be good on my own. Thanks."

After paying him his meso, the currency of Maple, I headed through Southperry and left the city following a clear path that would lead me to the other side of the island. There were some snail, small mushroom, and tree stump monsters along the way, but they were easily ignored as I made my way to the Mushroom Training Camp. The sky turned from blue to a dark red before I arrived.

-------------------

The atmosphere around the training camp was certainly different than the lonely atmosphere of Southperry and the grassy areas around it. I entered what must have been a fifty-foot building shaped to look like an orange colored mushroom that had room inside for at least a hundred people. All the way around were both real and fake weapon stashes containing such things as swords, axes, bows, claws and many others. There were training dummies, both still ones and creepy robotic-looking ones that would probably freak me out if it was turned on. I had a bad feeling it would be turned on too, especially when a slick looking man in a blue shirt and tie approached me with a smile almost as creepy as the robot.

"New recruit?" he said quickly.

"Yeah. The name's Schimmel." Hopefully he would keep whatever he has to say brief.

"Oh good, we've been behind on you guys lately. Only two other guys and a gal here at the moment. I'll be your trainer for the time you're here. I'm Peter." He turned to my right and approached a set of doors as I followed, unsure of where we were going. "Here, you can just look around and check out a room you'd like to take for today. Tomorrow I'll get you up along with the others and we can start. We're already finished for today anyway."

Sounded safe enough. "Alright, thanks," I said as I continued through the doors he waved me through. Inside there was a short hallway with three doors on either side. The first one on the right was occupied with the name Nemo written on a tablet placed in a hangar on the door. On the other side there was one that read Raquen and another with Astreryl written.

"I'll just assume I can take one of them that doesn't have a name I guess. I want my name on a door too..."

Just as I was about to check out a room, the door with Nemo's name opened beside me with a voice mumbling something about not being able to sleep. As the door closed behind him he took the door outside to the giant training room without noticing me. From behind I could only tell that he was wearing a green robe that reached from the shoulders to a little past his ankles, and had long brown hair that fell straight to his shoulders. He was also taller than me. I was only a 5'10, which from the quick glance would make him 6' or so.

I decided to follow him, if only for the chance that he was going to practice fighting, and I could get used to the training camp before the trainer woke me in the morning, even if it was a little dark. Back in the training room, he had already taken one of the standard wooden bows and a quiver of arrows from the stashes along the side and took aim at a bull's eye target from across the entire tent. I watched as he took his shot and landed just barely below the bull's eye. He readied another, and hit only an inch to the right of it.

"Hey, you're pretty good," I said. I didn't know if he even knew I was there, but I needed to talk to him somehow. Apparently he didn't, because his next shot didn't even hit the target.

"Oh, uh... Thanks." He seemed a bit confused. "Who are you, anyway?"

To the point, just like everyone today it seems. "Schimmel. Schim, actually. I'm a newbie here. Just came in a few minutes ago. The trainer seems like a real creeper. I figured I'd stay out here a bit and get used to the materials that are here before tomorrow. I'm not really tired yet anyway."

"And what a job you're doing of that, sitting on that crate watching me." He grinned and nocked another arrow.

"Heh, just looking for the swords," I replied, clearly seeing the wooden makeshift ones right behind where I was sitting as I turned. I grabbed a moderately lightweight one and turned as I heard a crackle. Nemo had let off an arrow charged with lightning and hit the bull's eye dead in the center.

"Nice." I approached him from the side and handed him a makeshift sword lighter than my own. "So you got the bow and the magic down, can you handle a sword too?"

"Well... enough to defend myself until I get into a position to use my bow or magic. If it's your specialty I don't really stand a chance."

"Try it on me then. We'll spar. See if you can get an arrow off at me or something."

"Well, I suppose... let me grab some training arrows."

"Nah," I stopped him by putting my hand on his shoulder as he turned. He turned to see me grin. "It'll be my motivation."

"Ah, you like to take some pain, huh? Okay, then."

I had grabbed an elastic and put my hair into a wavy ponytail. We stood a few feet apart, both with our swords held out. I stood sideways and held my sword in my right hand closest to Nemo. He stood with it held in both hands standing straight on. I ran at him, keeping him close to me being my objective for the match, his being to get away in order to shoot. I took the sword in both hands as I approached, and began swinging blows that he matched with me. After several close calls, I thought I was going to hit him in the side of the neck, but he ducked and pressed his hands to my knees. Before I could react, my knees were paralyzed with electricity and I was helpless on the ground. He quickly took a step back and nocked an arrow aimed at my shoulder.

"Give up?" He grinned.  
"Yeah," I chuckled. "You're good."

"I've been here for two weeks now. It's a really good place to learn battle strategies and different techniques. You get used to the creeper."

"Hah, I hope so. That's what I'm here for."

He reached for my hand as the paralyzation wore off. "By the way, I'm Nemo."

-------------------

I could faintly hear my name as I scanned the room. It was all a blur, but it looked like I was on the floor.

"Geez, what does it take to wake you up?" Peter's voice echoed through the room, slowly getting more noticable with each word. "I even let you sleep for an extra half hour because you're new... that's not happening again. Go on, get showered and whatever and meet in the training room."

After another twenty minutes or so, I arrived in the training room, much more brightly lit than last night. Nemo was taking more shots at the targets from one side of the room to the other. Some of them being varying elements such as the lightning one I had already seen.I watched as an ice one went off, followed by fire, then a green-looking one that must have been poison. There were also another two people in the training room he hadn't seen before, who must've been Raquen and Astreryl. I knew Raquen was a male name, so I quickly assumed it was the blonde, short-haired guy in the closer corner to me with the white t-shirt and black jeans who was training with a sword against one of the robots. The robot was on and fighting back against him with it's own wooden sword. In the other corner was who I assumed to be Astreryl with the waist-length blue hair, purple shirt and long-skirt, bearing a beautiful silver staff topped with a clear gem. She was casting some offensive spells on a punching bag at an intimidating rate.

"There you are, at last," I heard Peter call out from beside me. "You ready?"

"Depends. Ready for what?"

"Well, you wanna skip the pre-test and go right to learning some new techniques? I watched your spar last night with Nemo and I can show you exactly where to improve, and some skills that'll help you out."

"Sounds good."

"Right, grab your choice of a wooden sword and we'll begin."


	3. 2: As stuck up as your father

**Chapter 2**

Okay, so now it's a week later. I'm pretty buffed up, or so I'd like to think. More like... I'm kinda struggling with magic. Not kinda. Alot. Peter's stopped trying to teach me. He's focusing on the sword techniques instead. Thankfully some very useful ones. It seems without magic I'm limited to entirely close-range combat however. That's okay, I'm inheriting my father's ability in that regard. I beat Nemo in a swords spar after only a day of training, and I'm evenly matched with Raquen, who seems upset about it. Still not even close to Peter though. He's good.

"Come at me!" he called, only a few feet away. I was cut up a bit, as we were using real weapons for motivation. I stood up shakily and rushed. I was quickly deflected before he caught my wrist with his hand, bent it and made me drop my sword. He followed up by giving me another cut on my back, shoving me to the ground and stepping on my sword. I took the last part unnecessarily offensively. He kicked it to me and I grabbed hold of it before shakily taking my stance again.

"Okay... I can't charge at him. I need to take my time and focus," I thought to myself as I walked slowly toward him. I watched his stance and movements, watching for a weak point. I came within range, and he tried to strike, but I quickly parried and managed a quick sweep kick that knocked him to the ground. I stepped on his chest to keep him from getting up and pointed the sword at him.

"Phew." I wiped my forehead off from sweat with my free hand and looked down at him with a grin that couldn't be helped. "Give?"

"I don't think." He slashed at my foot on his chest with his sword, forcing me to jump off. He quickly flipped up and was back in stance ready for another round.

"Damnit! Can I have a few minutes? My back hurts pretty bad now..." I limped over to a nearby bench and sat with my arms on my knees giving myself a rest.

"Astreryl, could you take care of him for a minute while I spar with Raquen now? Good job, Schimmel. You're learning to take your time and focus," Peter commented. Among Astreryl's magical artes was the ability to heal wounds.

She nodded, standing next to me, her staff emitting a refreshing green glow.

Raquen stepped up a few feet away from Peter. He hadn't sparred in a few days now, and looked ready for a good one. He immediately charged at Peter as soon as they both nodded their ready to each other. I watched as they exchanged blow after blow for several minutes, neither one of them wearing down very quickly. I thought to myself that I could go like that if I had a few days rest from sparring like he did.

Nemo had left after receiving his badge only a couple days ago, so now I was stuck with these two. They seemed to have a strange fondness for one another, while Raquen seemed to think of me as a rival, probably because we were closely matched. He was getting good at magic though, which I was struggling with. He could already charge his sword weakly with each of the same four elements that Nemo did. I don't give him credit though, because he spends alot of his time here with Astreryl, who is incredible with magic. They will be gone two days before I am next week, and there's no sign of anyone new showing up either. Finally, after I'm done here, I'll get my badge and be able to leave with the capability to join a guild of some sort. Then I'll be getting paid tons of meso per job, and I'll be set. I can't wait.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked up to see that Raquen had pinned Peter up against a wall, sword across his throat. Peter's sword lay on the ground out of reach.

"Good job, Raquen! Okay, I give," he complied. "You've grown very strong. I think you should take the last few days and work on your magic."

"Yeah, I plan to." Kind of snotty, but hey, it's Raquen.

"Okay Astreryl, let me see you in a spell duel. Come on, see if you can beat me."

I suppose Peter does have to know every single aspect of fighting in order to get all these trainees out of here. My thoughts keep getting interrupted though, now Raquen is coming to sit down with me... ugh.

"Hey, how about that, Orrison?" He had a cocky grin on his face. I wanted to get rid of it.

"Oh, I guess it was alright. I wasn't really paying attention actually."

"Really? You should always be watching fights. You learn techniques that way."

"To each their own, I suppose. I like my own self-taught techniques that I developed from training with Peter compared to copied ones."

"Hm." He shrugged, and mumbled as he walked away, "As stuck up as your father."

"What was that?" I called after him, but was clearly ignored.

I watched for a few more moments as spells continued to collide with each other in mid-air between Peter and Astreryl. Astreryl clearly had the upper hand, even with what little I knew about spell duels. I could see the sweat trickling down the side of Peter's cheeks, and Astreryl looked like she wasn't even trying.

Without watching the rest I headed for my room, now with my name on the tablet hanging on the door that I was happy about.

-------------------

The next morning, I woke up naturally. This struck me as strange. I'm usually woken up by Peter, quite forcibly. The first day I was tossed to the floor, the next day was a shot of electricity that he said was supposed to give me a 'jolt' of energy. I was kinda hoping he'd come up with something new today, but no such luck. I sat up and looked out the small window to see that it was pouring rain outside. Something was up though. The rain felt... unnatural somehow, kind of like me waking up on my own.

I crawled out of the extremely comfortable mushroom bed with a mixture of curiosity and reluctance. I threw on my usual clothes and slung my father's sword over my shoulder. Heading into the training room, the place seemed deserted. I was about to head outside and enjoy the rain when the strangest thing happened. One of the orange mushroom creatures from outside wandered inside. Usually they would be too scared. The monsters from each area tend to develop a sense of what areas are heavily occupied by humans and therefore unsafe for them. I unsheathed the sword and waved at it to leave, but it just stared at me with a blank expression. I figured I'd kick it out, but as I approached it, it turned and ran.

Following it to the end of the house, I watched from the doorway as it ran off in the direction of the only other village besides Southperry on Maple Island, called Amherst. Why would it run in that direction? Intrigued, I started a trek to Amherst. Maybe I could find Peter if nothing else came out of it.

Amherst was also deserted. I called out for anyone to answer me as I roamed the village only a bit bigger than Southperry while peeking in houses to see if it was all a giant prank and everyone was hiding, waiting to pop out and yell "Surprise!"

All the houses in this village were shaped like giant mushrooms, which was kinda creepy. My mind wondered if mushrooms had something to do with the 'heart' of Maple. I sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for something to tell me what was going on. I was pretty deep in my own strange thoughts, so I didn't notice that, looking around, orange mushroom creatures and snails were all around me in the grass.

Startled, I quickly stood up and unsheathed my sword, wondering if they were going to attack. My knees shook a bit. I had never fought monsters, even though I knew from common knowledge that the monsters on Maple Island were the least dangerous in all the world. I waited for a few minutes, watching them carefully as they kept their eyes on me with incredible focus.

"Hello!" I called out, wondering if I should bother fighting, or just run to Southperry. "Anyone around?" After a moment of agonizing silence as a few of the creatures inched closer, I decided to make the run for it. After the sudden movement, I expected at least some of them to jump and start attacking, but they did nothing but watch. It was strange. I thought that maybe they were a bit scared, they were inside human territory, though why they would come within those areas in the first place made me nervous.

I slowed to a brisk walking pace as I headed for Southperry. The fact that monsters were in Amherst was definitely not a good sign. My thoughts wandered back to why I was going to join a guild for a career. It's the year 1330, and I was born in 1311, which makes me twenty. Worse, it means the Dark Era began when I was only two years old. It wasn't known as the dark era until the continent of Leafre was completely taken over and Ludibrium was beginning to collapse three years later. My mother and I escaped to Orbis on one of the evacuation ships during the destruction of Leafre. The point is, however, that the end of these continents began with monsters roaming into human territory.


	4. 3: Schim? Weird, but okay

**Chapter 3**

The walk was only a few minutes from Amherst to Southperry. I wondered about the fate of Maple Island the entire walk. Would there even be anyone at Southperry, or was I was the only one left on the small island? Upon reaching the city, I noticed four people standing together chatting. Three of the four were Raquen, Astreryl and Peter. The last one I didn't know, but he was taller than I was and had brown hair just below his shoulders. I began to wonder if my own long hair was kind of cliche. It seemed most people grew their hair pretty long these days. Oh well, I stopped thinking about it and decided against cutting it as I approached their conversation. I liked it long anyway.

"I'm sorry, Bryenn, we have to delay your training. We have an emergency on our hands here." Peter seemed a bit shaken as he spoke. I looked around again and saw that all the houses were locked up.

"Listen though! If I don't get into fighting shape right now, I won't be able to!" Bryenn yelled. "The monsters are starting up here, and it's not going to be long before they start on the biggest continents, Victoria and Ossyria. I need to get into the Amaranth guild and help stop it!"

"Well then, go to Perion and talk to Dances with Balrog to learn your sword skills. I need to help investigate this place once Amaranth gets here." Peter seemed a bit frustrated now. "Dances with Balrog has the authority to give you your hunter's badge."

"Hey Peter," I said, interrupting Bryenn with his mouth wide open. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Orrison!" he exclaimed, as though he didn't expect to see me awake again. "You're evacuating the island with these three. Here's your badge, our training is done anyway." He reached into his pocket and looked through a few different looking badges. He chose a red one that was shaped like a small phoenix and handed it to me. I looked at it, it had the letters 'D' and 'P' in black, side by side on the front.

"What do the letters stand for?"

"I have no idea. Your father asked me to give that badge to you when you finally became a hunter."

"You knew my father?" I asked, a bit startled. I didn't really know much about my father besides his title as the Dark Phoenix, which now that I thought about it, was what 'DP' must stand for. He was famous, and well-known, but it seems an odd title to give to a person as heroic as he was made out to be.

"Well..." he started, but Raquen interrupted.

"Your last name is Orrison, so you're the son of Torrence Orrison, correct?"

"That's right, why?" I turned to face him with an exaggerated eye rolling directed at him.

"Oh, nothing important."

Just then, I looked past Raquen's oddly content smile and noticed Shanks' boat pulling into the port. The four of us besides Peter boarded it, he stayed back after shoving Bryenn on and quickly pulling away the ramp that led to the boat. I think we were all surprised he didn't jump into the water and swim back. After everyone was finished watching the show, Shanks started the trip to Victoria and stayed on the deck watching to make sure we stayed on course. Raquen and Astreryl stood together on the bow of the ship, overlooking the ocean. Bryenn took the door that led to the cabins below, and I followed after making sure he was somewhere out of eyesight and earshot, I didn't really want to get anywhere near him after how pissed off I saw him in Southperry.

Below, there was a hallway with half a dozen doors on either side, and one at the very end. I chose the first door I came to on the right and hoped Bryenn wouldn't be in there. Luckily, he wasn't, and also luckily, it was a bedroom like I had hoped. I collapsed on one the beds, realizing afterward that I shouldn't have let myself fall so hard. It barely had any elasticity, and it felt like I had landed on a wooden board suspended three inches into the air by something only at the four corners. I looked at the others, and confirmed that the beds were made of wood, sure enough with only wooden shafts at each corner to hold it into the air. The only thing I could do to get comfortable was lay on top of my blankets instead of under them.

* * *

I was laying there in the bed for an hour or two wide awake. My mind wandered around to what it would be like living on Victoria for at least a while. Or what it would be like going on a hunt with a guild. Better yet, leading a hunt. I also thought about Bryenn. He had said he wanted to be in the Amaranth guild. That's the guild I was aiming for also. The Amaranth guild was the largest and most powerful guild in the world. They led enormous hunts into the very depths of the Victorian Dungeon, and the Dead Mines of El Nath. I heard they cleared the Orbis Tower of all monsters in a single day. They did more than just hunts though. They help control the stability of us Maplers too. There used to be a guild called the Police that stopped crime amongst ourselves, but now the Amaranth guild controls that also, simply because people are too afraid to oppose it.

Just as I felt drowsy and could doze off any second, someone opened the door and called to me.

"Hey. Your name's Orrison, right?" It was Bryenn. Joy.

"Uh, my last name, anyway. Call me Schimmel though." I sort of groaned out my words as I struggled to sit up.

"Hm? Schim? Weird, but okay." I didn't bother to correct him, as he kept talking anyway. "But that other guy said you're the son of Torrence Orrison? That's amazing!"

"Uh, sure. I don't see what's so amazing about it though."

"Huh? You don't know what he did?"

"Well... no. My mother was just a little overprotective," I said with all the sarcasm I could gather up in my voice.

"Well I'm definitely not the one to tell you, cause I don't know much about it all. I do know that he was the founder of the Amaranth guild though."

I jumped to my feet. "Really!?" I looked at the badge I kept on my left shoulder and it felt like it carried a new meaning for me. I would get into Amaranth for sure.

Just then the boat shook, and I heard Shanks' voice calling down, "We've reached Victoria, come on!"

I followed Bryenn onto the deck to see that Raquen and Astreryl had already left.

"Here she is, mates. Lith Harbor," Shanks said with an odd smile as he gazed upon the fairly sizable port city bustling with people. It was a more normal town, unlike the ones from Maple Island. The mushroom houses were replaced with fairly normal looking buildings, except for the item store that had a bottle bigger than the building itself sitting along one of the walls. It was filled with a strange, endlessly bubbling green liquid of some sort.

"Thanks, Shanks," I shook his hand farewell, as did Bryenn, as we stepped off. Only a few short steps and I noticed a familiar face approaching.

"Schimmel! What the hell went on at Maple Island after I left?" Nemo yelled as he almost fell into Bryenn. I couldn't tell whether he was worried about what happened, or excited to hear a story. Probably the latter. I heard Bryenn mumble something about him getting my name wrong.

"Not much, really. Just some monsters, I don't see why we had to evacuate. Even I could have taken care of them." We took a seat on a nearby bench as we talked.

"You were there, so I'd believe you more than the newspapers. The papers are saying there was a catastrophe over there." I started to change my mind. He actually seemed a bit worried. "It said monsters took the lives of some people in Amherst." Woah, I didn't hear about that.

"But... they wouldn't even attack me when I was there. I don't know much about it then I guess, I showed up after it was already deserted."

"Oh, you slept in, eh?" he chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, yeah... Anyway, it didn't seem that bad when I came across the scene."

"Well," Bryenn jumped in, "You know the fall of Leafre and Ludibrium began with what just happened on Maple Island."

"That place isn't much of a loss anyway, really," I thought out loud, the creepy mushroom houses on my mind again.

"Who is this, anyway, Schim? A friend of yours?" Bryenn asked.

"Yeah, the name's Nemo Rian. Just call me Nemo though." He beat me to it, then turned to me. "Should I start calling you Schim?"

"It doesn't matter to me." I shrugged. "Can I call you Nem?"

"Uh... I'd rather the extra syllable."

"Well that's too bad," I laughed.

"Hey guys," Bryenn spoke up when I cooled down after the bad joke. "Are we all going to sign up for the Amaranth guild?"

"Amaranth guild... isn't that a little high and mighty for newbies like us?" Nemo pointed out.

"Well yeah, but Schim's the son of Torrence Orrison you know. We could get in like that," Bryenn said, snapping his fingers.

"Really? Well that's good, but he has nothing to do with it anymore. Amaranth doesn't even support his ideals anymore after the two continents fell."

"Everyone who has a mind of their own knows he's still alive somewhere." My ears perked at Bryenn's comment. "They're just biding their time until he returns to lead them into a revolution to take the continents of Leafre and Ludibrium back."

"I'm not so sure..."

"Wait..." I interrupted. "Can you guys tell me more about my father?"

"What, you're his son and you don't know everything about it?" Nemo inquired. "I was just about to ask you what you thought of the whole thing."

"Well... no, I don't really know anything besides him founding the Amaranth guild, and Bryenn told me that only a little while ago on the way here." I explained. "I was kept quiet about it by the people I lived with in Orbis. My mother and friends. It's another part of the reason I left."

"What's the rest of the reason?" Bryenn's natural born curiosity kicked in.

"To become a hunter and take out these monsters that destroyed my home town. I want to take Leafre back one day."

"Good luck with that." I didn't know whether Nemo was being sarcastic or not. "You know how bad that place is? There's some sort of super monster that's made its nest there, along with who knows what else."

"I don't care how long it takes, or if I'm only a part of it. I just want it done. I also want to find the cause and make sure it never happens again."

"Well... with that kind of resolve... the sign ups for Amaranth are in Henesys." Nemo smiled. "I'll come with you, and I'm sure Bryenn would too of course."

With that, we used our spare change to buy some traveling equipment at the store that included potions and some cheap leather padding for armor that comfortably fit under our clothes. When we were ready, we began our trek to the capital city of Henesys.


	5. 4: A Good Friend of Mine Long Ago

**Chapter 4**

"So let me get this straight," Nemo said as the group walked by the giant television monitor marking the entrance of Henesys. "We're going to ask to see the leader of Amaranth, and use the excuse that Schimmel is the son of Torrence to join. Then we're going to make our meso by hunting the most ferocious monsters known to Maple, in the depths of the deepest dungeons, after having just gotten our hunting badges?"

"Well," Bryenn squinted, thinking. "Not right away... I mean, they would have to train us to become real powerhouses, right? There's no way anyone can get that strong before they join Amaranth. Which means they must have some sort of secret technique or something that you are let in on once you join that makes you strong enough to hunt Tauromacis and such."

The group sat on the nearest bench, almost right next to the giant monitor that was currently showing the mayor with a goofy smile. I looked around while the other two were in their usual heated discussions. I noticed the buildings were actually built out of normal materials like golem stones and slime bubbles. The city was really nice looking, and there were people scattered all over the place attending to their daily routines and chores. It was much different than Orbis, both in a good way and a slightly uncomforting way. Everyone seemed so calm, as if they had no idea what was going on in the world at the moment, or as if it had nothing to do with them. I was jealous in a way.

"Hey Nemo," I interrupted them just as Bryenn was trying to save himself from losing his arguement. "Where do we find the Amaranth headquarters or whatever?

"Oh, I forgot to mention. We're already standing in the headquarters."

"Er... wha?"

"This whole city is the headquarters. If you're talking about where we find Calydon, that's a different story." Nemo stood up and directed my attention toward a sign in the distance that read 'Mushroom Park'. "He's extremely busy though. With the Dark Era hanging over the world, he's really busy trying to keep the strong monster population to a minimum, and he's working with the other leaders on planning to take back Ludibrium and Leafre also. First priority according to the news though, is that they want to find out why the monsters have increased compared to normal, so that they can prevent it."

"Wow... the guild must be huge," I said as we started walking toward the park. "Would we really fit in there?"

"Well, you have an off chance... but I'm not so sure about Bryenn and myself." Nemo shook his head when Bryenn noticably flinched. "Remember though, Torrence has nothing to do with Amaranth anymore aside from rumors. So it's not looking good."

"Yeah..." I was lost in thought the rest of the way there. We stopped in front of a giant blue clock, the back of which stretched out quite far and had a door at the far end. Nemo led me there, and then grabbed Bryenn by the wrist and dragged him off against his will, letting me go it alone.

I knocked, then knocked again a minute later. I was about to go meet up with the other two again when the door opened and a man with a curious expression peeked his head around the corner of the door. I couldn't see him clearly, but he looked young, probably about 23 or so.

"Hey. Were you looking for something?" The man asked.

"Uh... yeah. Is this where Calydon lives?" I shuffled nervously while I talked. What would I do even if I got accepted?

"What are you looking for him for?"

"I want to speak with him. I'm Torrence's son," I said, directing his attention toward my badge with the letters 'DP' inscribed.

The man changed his expression from not interested to a bit curious. "Come on in."

As I entered I was surprised at how small the place was. It was simply one room with a bookshelf, a desk, and four chairs. There was a map of Maple spread out across the desk, with some places circled in red marker, and tacs stuck through various spots all over.

"You know, you were a good friend of mine long ago," the man said as he sat down at the seat behind the desk. He gestured, and I took a seat across from him. "I'm Calydon. Leader of Amaranth. Nice to finally see you again, Schimmel." Now that I could see him moreso than from around the corner of a door, I noticed he was definitely dressed the part. He wore a gray suit, coupled with a gray feather cap. He had black hair that almost covered his ears. In one word, he was sharp. I was mainly surprised that he was leading Amaranth being so young.

"Wait... we were good friends?" I asked, completely taken off guard.

"Yeah. Neither of us actually remember it though. I was four years old, and you were only one." He could have fooled me. The way he went on it was like he remembered every detail. "The way my parents used to tell it, I used to pick on you all the time. Haha."

"Heh, and now you're leading Amaranth. How the time flies, huh?" My pathetic attempt at casual conversation.

"Yes, it does have a way like that. Seems like only yesterday, that romantic night when that girl that I was dating..." He mumbled the next few words. "Anyway, you came here for a reason, of course. Lay it on me."

"Er... yeah. I was wondering how I would go about joining Amaranth actually."

"Hm... I was afraid of that." Calydon paused for a moment before standing and pacing the room a bit. "Well, you would have just gotten your hunter's badge, assuming my guess is correct and you are indeed 20 years old. Meaning you don't have much battle experience yet, of course. Unless you have some extensive knowledge about the situation of Leafre and Ludibrium, and can help with strategies for dominating those continents."

"Uh..." He glared at me as I thought about what to say. Silence was all he needed.

"Hm... then it's probably best you hold off on joining for now. You should go out and get some experience with other guilds or hunts of your own. You know, build up some combat ability against some real toughies first."

"Y-yeah..."

"Here," Calydon made a move towards a suit held on a mantle in the corner close to the door that I hadn't noticed before. It was a red blazer, with the pants to match. Laying on the floor next to it was a sword, resting in its sheath. "This was also left to you by your father along with your badge. I kept it within the Amaranth guild as he had wanted. It's yours."

"Nice." Upon closer inspection, I found that the insides were laced with chain mail, making it not only look good, but have good protection also. I picked up the sword to find it was the perfect weight for my style, and couldn't help but smile as I test swung it, having Calydon duck to avoid being hit.

"That ought to help you get a kick start on making the progress necessary to join Amaranth." Calydon grinned.

"Yeah. Give my thanks to my father if you see him."

"Sure thing old pal," he said with a wink.

------

I unsheathed the sword just to see the blade as Calydon closed the door behind me. It had an intricate, all-black design on the blade close to the hilt resembling a strange aerial creature of some sort. Its wings swirled and extended in patterns right to the tip.

"So how'd it go?" Bryenn asked impatiently. I didn't notice him and Nemo standing nearby.

"Well, good and bad. I didn't get into the guild, but I got my father's old equipment." I sheathed the sword again as I spoke.

"That's probably for the best." Nemo commented. "You don't even have your badge yet, Bryenn. That should be first on your list."

"Still, you guys have never seen me fight before. It's quite a show," Bryenn grinned.

"I think I'll pass on getting tickets for that one."

"They're free!"

"Even so."

I chuckled a bit at Bryenn's grumbling, and he ended up going to the market to blow off some steam by buying some equipment.

"Should we just leave him? If he's gone to the market, he'll be there forever." Nemo thought aloud. "I can picture him inspecting every bit of every armor there just to pick out the one that he thinks is the stongest."

"Haha, yeah." I said. "Even if we did though, where should we go now? Maybe we should try and join another guild for now."

"That's an idea. The monsters are starting up a little bit here too. Though the real threats are always quickly taken care of by Amaranth anyway."

"We could see what's in Perion at least. Bryenn has to go there to get his badge from Balrog, and I heard he has a great reputation for helping warriors reach their best potential too. And there must be at least one guild there for us to check out, right?"

"Huh... when did you come up with this?"

"Um, just now, why?"

"It's just, that's a good idea. I thought all warriors were naturally kinda slow," Nemo laughed.

"Hey, I've looked into becoming a hunter alot at the very least. By the way, there's an archery trainer named Athena Pierce somewhere around here."

"You do know your stuff," Nemo chuckled.

"Yep, and Grendel in Ellinia teaches magic."

"Huh... think I have enough time for archery training by the time Bryenn's done shopping?"

"Hey!" Bryenn shouted from behind him wearing a thick-looking blue tunic. "I'm already done, so I'm going to head to Perion around the Ellinia route. I'm stopping at Grendel's to learn magic before taking sword training from Balrog and getting my badge."

"Good idea," I said. "I'm going to Perion through Kerning though. I'd like to learn how to control the agility of a bandit."

"Why?" Bryenn didn't seem too fond of the idea. "Bandits and assassins steal and kill just for a little profit. I hate them, they're just evil."

"I'm learning it so that I know their strategy and can stop it from happening."

"Oh, well that's cool, I guess. Just don't get too into it," he warned. I was just glad I dodged the bullet there.

"I'm staying here for archery training, then to Ellinia for magic. So I guess that's going to split us all up," Nemo mentioned.

"Yeah..." I thought for a moment. "But afterwards we should all meet up again somehow. Hunters usually see alot of each other as far as I've heard." I thought I noticed a swear directed toward Bryenn under Nemo's breath, but decided to ignore it.

At that, we all shook hands and parted ways. Nemo headed back toward the Mushroom Park. Bryenn began east toward the deep and enchanting forest of Ellinia. I turned toward the opposite direction, thankfully. A little north of west was where the underdeveloped town of Kerning, den of thieves and unfinished houses, lay in wait. And somewhere in the basement of a tavern was the Master of Shadows who, for some strange reason, never gave out his name. He was who I needed to see.


	6. 5: All Bark and No Bite

**CHAPTER 5**

I never did end up making it to Kerning. I made it as far as the three-way split in the path that separated the Lith Harbour, Kerning, and Henesys roads. I was getting used to fighting actual monsters by this point. They were just running on instinct rather than strategy, and often simply ran after me on sight like a mindless drone just trying to get its next meal. A couple cuts with my father's sword and they were down. I didn't kill them though, even if they were just monsters I didn't seem to have the heart. I thought this was odd, and started questioning if I made the right decision to become a hunter. I could have been a chef, or a blacksmith. Then the images of Leafre flashed in my head. Even if I was only two years old I could never forget. I had to take it back. Lost in these thoughts I didn't hear a voice calling my name at first.

"Orrison! Don't just ignore me!" I rolled my eyes as I recognized the voice.

"Raquen? What do you want?" I honestly didn't mean to make it sound rude, but my opinion of him made it come out that way before I could help it. As per usual, Astreryl was tagging right beside him, not saying a word. He must have a good exterior source of meso, as I noticed he already managed to afford a really nice looking white metal breastplate with blue stripes.

"I've been following you, waiting for my chance," he took his hand away from Astreryl's and gripped his sword still in its sheath. "I need you to tell me where your father is."

"I don't know," I said with a laugh. "What were you planning to do if I didn't tell you, kill me?"

"No, actually. But Astreryl has a very special spell that she taught me, you see." He began walking toward me slowly, withdrawing his sword. "With a simple cut from my sword to any degree, I can make it so hard to move that it'll seem to the Amaranth peacekeepers that you simply couldn't handle the little monsters here. I'm sure they'd appreciate the free meal."

"Whatever, that sounds like a neat trick, but not even I know where my father disappeared to after the attack on Leafre." Raquen was now standing right in front me, so I backed up and matched my sword against his. "That's pretty low to hunt a fellow explorer over something so pointless."

"Pointless? Not even close. If I find your father, he can give me the recipe, and I'll be able to carry out the dream that he could not. Really, I just want to be the hero." Astreryl gave him an approving smile, which revealed to me they were both as twisted.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're not exactly taking the yellow brick road to being a hero."

"You don't know what I'm talking about? Hah!" With that unnerving chuckle a grin crossed his face and he seemed delighted all of a sudden. I wasn't so amused however, still focusing on the chance his sword went in for a swing. "You took your lie a little too far, Orrison, I can see right..."

BOOM. Just then there was what sounded like an explosion that shook the very ground we were standing on. I ended up falling over, while Raquen and Astreryl hung on to each other for balance. The intense sound and shaking all subsided in a matter of half a minute.

"What the hell was that!?" Raquen shouted, eyes wide. I guess he only acted older than he was.

"I think it came from that direction..." Astreryl said and pointed as I heard her voice very timidly for the first time.

I wasn't paying much attention, however, I was already at a full-on sprint towards the source of the explosion.

About an hour later I finally made it to Lith harbour, thankful to see it was still in tact, although there seemed to be panic among the people. The explosion must have at least had a bigger impact here. I asked around but no one seemed to know yet what it was about. Some people thought it was just an earthquake, others thought a monster did it, still some people thought it was some sort of religious bad omen. I don't know about religious, but I didn't realize just how bad an omen it was until twenty minutes later or so.

I was sitting on a bench looking over the waters. I wondered if it had something to do with Maple Island, and that I'd find out from Shanks when he made a trip back. I waited about an hour before I realized. I thought it strange no one else did, but then I guess everyone was a little more shaken up here and consumed in rumors. I was trying to make sure my memory was accurate before I jumped to any conclusions, but... couldn't I see the outline of Maple Island from here before?

A shiver went through my spine as I stared and wondered. Squinting, trying to see if maybe I was just overlooking something, I saw something else instead. It wasn't on the water, it was in the sky. I couldn't see any of them clearly, but I didn't notice them before because they seemed to be moving closer. They were just dots from here. Probably about twenty of them. I fixated on them as they seemed to approach. Yes, they were definitely getting closer.

It hit me like a brick wall when I realized what they were. Dragons. My heart felt like it dropped down into my stomach. Not only that but the one in the middle wasn't a dragon. It was... I didn't know, but it was alot bigger and looked like some sort of demon. I panicked. My mind froze in a state of shock wondering what to do. There was no way this city could handle an attack like this. And what did they do to Maple Island? My mind flashed a hundred thoughts before I came to my senses and realized I had to get someone from Amaranth.

I turned and shouted to everyone nearby in a frenzy, "Hey! Someone's gotta get Amaranth here now! Look in the sky toward Maple Island! Monster attack!"

The next hour is just a hazy blur, as the people saw the incoming monsters and a riot erupted. Everyone flew into panic mode in a matter of minutes. People started running out of the city to find help, some tried to hide, some even grabbed weapons they kept for defensive purposes and stood their ground. But nothing could have changed what happened. There were only a couple of Amaranth hunters in the city that day and there was no time to send for help.

I watched in horror as the demon kept his distance and the dragons began making their assault. Now that I could see them up close they were more dangerous-looking than I thought. They were blue, about fifteen feet tall and had huge arms and legs. their claws alone looked like they could tear down a whole room of a house with one swipe, and their teeth were outright menacing. They started fires to the buildings with just a breath... the giant bottle next to the item shop exploded catching the people close to it... I tried to help as the dragons made their way from victim to victim with their massive claws... I even caught a glimpse of Shanks' ship sinking in the distance, the sails illuminating the sky in the approaching darkness of night...

I was thrown away by a dragon's backhand, barely nicking its claw as I tried to help a young man who was on the ground, a wooden sword that caught fire next to him. I landed quite a distance away from the sheer power of it. I tried to stand up again, but my legs went weak and I fell again as the demon landed in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes. Those were the first things I noticed, its eyes. A very deep red color surrounded by black. It had a giant brown body that stood at ten feet, it's wings stretching up to twenty making it look bigger. It's claws and teeth were slightly less dangerous-looking than the dragons, but I knew this thing was much worse. It seemed more human, and as I looked into its eyes I could sense intelligence.

More intelligence than I could imagine as it spoke in a very deep, slow voice that seemed to reverberate through my spine. "You... are the son of Orrison?" I didn't know whether I was more stunned by the fact that it could talk, or that it knew my father.

"Y-yes..." I managed to stammer out.

"Know this, boy." It put one of its giant claws point-first pressing against my chin, dangerously close to my neck. "You're lucky you're going to still be living after today. We don't need any more damn phoenix around here."

With that the creature gave a dirty look, that probably could have killed me anyway if it was any worse, and took off toward what looked to be in the direction of the center of Victoria. The dragons quickly followed. I was left sitting there dumbfounded and shaking uncontrollably, my heart pounding worse than I ever felt it before. After calming down a bit I realized how much my underside hurt from landing on a piece of the broken glass from the potion bottle. I also noticed the reinforcements finally arrive a little too late.

"Orrison!" That familar voice again. "My God, are you okay?"

"Raquen?" I managed to regain my composure just to not look weak for him. "I'm okay, I think. I thought you would have followed me, where did you go?"

"Why would I have followed you? The explosion that destroyed Maple Island is closest to Kerning, so I went there to find out after I heard."

"Oh..." I felt stupid, I should've known that. "Wait, Maple Island is...?"

"Destroyed, yeah." He helped me up after he saw I was struggling with the gash from the broken glass. He put my arm around him so he could help me walk as we started out of the city. "Just gone, disintegrated. It's a tragedy. The news of it has already spread to Ellinia, and Orbis Tower won't be more than an hour behind. Astreryl's coming with help from Henesys. I guess all they're going to help with here is the clean-up though."

We made it to the outskirts of the city before I had to sit down again. Even some of the grass out here was on fire.

"You know, this doesn't change anything between us," Raquen said to me as he scoffed at me sitting down again. "So the paralyzing spell isn't actually strong enough that the monsters around here would kill you, but you're still going to tell me where your father is."

"So you're all bark and no bite, huh?" I was actually amused despite what had just happened. "Showing off for your near-mute cleric-mage with benefits?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!? You're not in a favourable state of things right now to be insulting either of us."

"Haha, you don't need to take everything so seriously."

"Playing around doesn't accomplish anything, that's why I'm here and you're there."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Suddenly my smile fell as I realized the fire in the grass was out of the ordinary. I stood up, forgetting the pain in my leg momentarily as I looked for higher ground. I found a decent ladder that was still intact and set it up next to the closest building, Raquen following me while I limped, not getting the answers he wanted as to what I was doing. I was too absorbed in what I saw to care.

I finally made it to the top of the building just in time to see the letters spelled out in the small patches of dying fire and the dead grass. It read: "The End Begins."


	7. 6: You Haven't Changed, Have You Nem?

**Chapter 6**

Ahoy! Alright, so for anyone actually reading this documentation, this is a good time to take a short break and let you know that I'm going to be writing the next couple of chapters. Me being Nemo, the one using the pen. It's still Schim's story, like it's been told so far. He's dictating to me what to write since... well, that'll come. Anyway, enough ranting on about that. The real purpose of this short pause is to let you know that the next two chapters will be written from my own experience since Schim wasn't around, as I felt they were important to throw in here. That, and he could use a break from sitting there yapping to me, I know how tiring that must be. And so onwards to my twenty minutes of fame.

After Schimmel and Bryenn disappeared in opposite directions, I was left in Henesys with my own business to attend to. I needed a better bow, a backup melee weapon, more arrows, and most of all real archery training in order to meet the standards of any half-decent guild. Sure, I could hit a still target from a fair distance, but I knew that meant nothing in a real fight.

I made my way through Mushroom Park where, according to "Archery for Dummies", Athena Pierce could be found who was a famous instructor. The chief of Henesys even gave her her own archery range to promote the training of new students. As I approached I took it all in. There was a gigantic hollowed out tree that I knew was the office. Behind that there was the training range that I thought would be a lot bigger. It looked like enough to make room for three or four people shooting at once, barred by a wooden fence in front of a long empty field where there was a noticable lack of any targets.

"And who might you be?" A rather attractive woman with incredibly long white hair and an elegant golden headdress asked as I stepped inside the hollowed tree.

"Are you Athena Pierce?" I asked.

"I might be Athena, or I might be your biggest regret." She gave me a suspicious look and markedly rested one hand on the bow next to her. "Depends what you say next."

"Woah." I raised my hands and looked at her questioningly. "My name is Nemo. I lived in Kerning up until a few months ago and I'm sure no one important even knows I exist yet. I left to become a hunter so I could travel. I'm not whoever you think I am."

"Sorry." The tension fell from her almost instantly as she slung the bow over her shoulder and shook my hand. "We've been having problems lately with something in particular, but I jumped to conclusions. You're obviously no one to worry about though."

"I don't know whether I'm flattered or insulted," I said.

"Kind of both, but I assume you're here to see me and fix that."

"Yeah, this place looks like it hasn't been used in a long while though." I had just realized the place was totally empty besides us. "No one else comes here to work on their archery?"

"Well..." She looked around almost with a nostalgic expression. "It's been getting fewer and farther in between. Hunters don't make as much meso as they used to since the job is so overpopulated as it is, as is necessary in these times. Archery has never been a favorite skill among hunters either."

"That's a shame. I personally believe it's highly underestimated."

"Yes, exactly!" She gave me a bright smile as if I had just said something revolutionary. "Nemo, was it?"

"Nemo Rian."

"I like you already, Nemo. How's your skill with a bow?"

"Better proven than boasted."

We stepped out to the practice range and began immediately. Athena seemed pretty anxious to get to work. I could tell it had been a fair while since she had someone to train, as she was pretty excited about it. She gave me a nice sized dagger to defend myself at short range, which she said she'd get to later. She hit a button on a small machine just to the side of the fence and I realized why there were no targets until now. Some targets jutted up from the ground on metal poles for support and stayed still, while others sprouted wings and flew around aimlessly.

"Okay, let's see what you can do," Athena challenged. She had brought a bow and quiver of arrows out besides her own and handed it to me. It was a really sharp looking bow with golden tips where the string was hooked on and was made from a really high quality wood. I nocked an arrow, took aim, and slammed it just barely lower than the bullseye.

"Not bad, it's a killshot," she said. "I'll tell you what. You can keep that bow you're holding if you hit anywhere on three separate flying targets in a row."

"Sounds like a deal," I said confidently. I had never actually practiced on moving targets before, but I figured it couldn't be too hard. After a moment of watching I picked out the slowest moving one and took aim.

SLAM! As the arrow beat into it on the right side the target spun around and dropped to the ground.

"I kinda feel bad for the little thing if they're alive," I said aloud after the painful looking shot.

"Don't worry, it's just a spell our head mage from Ellinia, Grendel, cast on them a long time ago," Athena replied.

"Okay good, cause I plan on offing the next two too."

Taking my aim again, I let another shot loose and snagged one right on the bullseye. It got thrown back by the force, landed with a thud and stopped moving abruptly. One more was all I needed. I took a deep breath to relax, set my sights on the next slowest one, which was also the second fastest one now, and nocked the arrow. It flew around in odd patterns, sometimes stopping and changing directions very suddenly. I concentrated on it, waiting for my shot. Another few moments passed, waiting for it to take a straight path for just three seconds before I banked the shot. Finally, it seemed to slow down a bit, and just after it made another turn I snapped the string free.

Just at that moment there was a fierce earthquake that shook the ground. I fell to one knee to try and keep my balance while I noticed Athena just stood up completely with ease looking around as if she would find what was going on. It shook the ground for another few moments and subsided almost as quickly as it started.

"Holy... that came at the worst time ever, I think I actually jumped for a moment there," I commented. "Is Henesys bad for earthquakes like that?"

"Well, occasionally," Athena seemed to be in some thought as she spoke. "It's not exactly out of the ordinary, but the way that one started and stopped so quick it was almost... unnatural."

"Hmm..."

Just then I looked out to the range and noticed one less target in the air. I jumped the fence before saying a word and ran out into the grass to check for the targets. The first one was facedown with my arrow cracked in half. The next was laying flat, the arrow right in the bullseye. I looked around for another moment, and there it was. I found the third target face-up with just the metal tip still stuck in the outer edge, having just barely hit. The earthquake must have broken off the wooden shaft as it was just laying next to it.

"Well, there you go," Athena said from behind, having followed me out after realizing what I was looking for. "Looks like the bow is yours."

--------------

The day continued on. Athena showed me how to improve my shooting stance, and I learned a bit of how to utilize the dagger. By the end of the day I was shooting even the faster targets with ease, and even more force.

"Well, there's only so much I can teach you for now," Athena said as we sat back down in what I decided to call the tree hut. "You'll have to learn more by actually fighting the monsters around Victoria. When you feel you can handle even the first few levels of the Victoria dungeon with ease, come back and I'll have more to teach you."

"Righto, I'll make a note of it," I said.

Soon after leaving I made my way to the Henesys Market to pick up a dagger before all the stores closed. I bought the most expensive one there that had a razor edge before realizing it was the last of my meso and almost nighttime. I wandered around Mushroom Park until it was totally dark out and found a half decent bench to nod off on.

---------------

"You know him too?"

"Yeah, we met on Maple Island just before everyone left. Who are you?"

"His old friend from Kerning. Apparently I wasn't good enough to go with him to Maple Island."

"Yeah, that sounds like him."

"I can hear you both..." I grumbled as I rolled over, realizing too late there was nowhere to roll over to. I hit the ground head first with a loud, "OUCH!"

"Haha, you haven't changed, have you Nem?"

"Shut up Barbie, don't call me that."

"Then don't call me Barbie!"

I managed to sit back up on the bench and take a look at the two of them. One of them was Bryenn, curiously back from Ellinia so soon, now sporting a mage's pointed brown hat and a stylish blue robe with stars. The other was Barbarius, which Nemo knew was only a nickname. He was an average height and build with somewhat short blonde hair donning a thief's tight black shirt and dark jeans.

"You both look ridiculous," I said after a moment of gawking.

"Hey!" Bryenn protested. "This is the official uniform for a WIT!"

"What the hell's wit that?" I only partly joked. "You look like you'd have to hold your robe down like a skirt if the wind tried to pick it up."

"Hey, I think he looks cool. Like someone you don't wanna mess with or he'll turn you into a snail." I think Barbarius was just agreeing with him for the sake of disagreeing with me.

"Thanks!" Bryenn exclaimed, a little overly excited. "WIT means Wizard in Training."

"Is that what Grendel told you to appease your pride?" I laughed. "I wouldn't be boasting any sort of ego wearing that. What are you doing back here in Henesys anyway? I hoped... er, thought you were heading to Perion for sword training."

"I was, but then the news spread about what the earthquake yesterday was all about and I wanted to check it out," he explained. "I heard it has something to do with Maple Island."

"Man," Barbarius interrupted. "I can't believe you don't know yet! Maple Island sank! One second it was there, then the earthquake hit all over Victoria and the next second it was gone."

"Holy...!" I exclaimed. Bryenn stared at him in shock horror, probably remembering that if he had won the arguement with Peter he would've still been there.

"Yeah, everyone in Kerning saw it," Barbarius continued. "I came here to Henesys hoping you were back from the island already, thank God."

"Does anyone know what happened?" Bryenn asked.

"No, apparently all the big leaders of each city are gone to Lith Harbour to check something out there too but they won't disclose any information. It's all been closed off."

"Well, there's no sense in checking it out then..." I added.

"This makes my training here so much more important," Bryenn thought aloud.

"Training here? You still need to go to Perion." I secretly hoped he would go.

"No, here too. I want to learn how to fight in the ways of all four types of hunters: Mage, Thief, Archer _and_ Warrior. I may as well learn archery while I'm here."

"That's the daftest thing I've ever heard," I said with a raised eyebrow. "You'll never be strong enough to go to the Victoria Dungeon like that. Let alone Ludibrium or Leafre."

"Daftest isn't even a word!" he fought back. "And anyway, it may take a little longer but I'll do it no matter what it takes. Mastering all four will make me the strongest hunter ever!"

I just heaved a long sigh. After a long, drawn out conversation I got nowhere further to convincing him out of his ridiculous ideals, and Barbarius still was nowhere near ready to even become a hunter. Just my luck though, it looked like I was stuck with them. At the very least, I convinced Bryenn that I would show him what Athena taught me myself on the way to Ellinia, where I needed to go to brush up on my magic so my archery would be even more powerful.

I grabbed a sniper potion at the item shop and chugged it down to wake myself up before we made the trip to the mystical forest town of Ellinia.


	8. 7: A Little More Faith

**Chapter 7**

It was an amazing sight. Seeing it from the outside, and especially once we began the trek into the depths of the Ellinia Forest. The trees could be seen from Henesys, and they were at least two-hundred feet tall each. They all had enormous, climbable branches that were the foundation for the town. There were rays of light coming from between the leaves that gave the forest an eerie, yet mystical glow, even if there were small monsters that inhabited it outside the city. They were nothing to worry about, although I had to loan Barbarius my dagger so he could take care of himself.

"How much longer do we have to keep climbing, Bry?" Barbarius asked, almost losing his grip on another branch. We were probably about fifty feet up by now, scaling the enormous branches. "I feel like I could hitch a ride to the bottom any second."

"Scared of heights, Barbie?" I chuckled. "What do you know, even after all this time I can still find new ways to annoy you." Barbarius rolled his eyes, his attention less focused on me and more on not falling.

"Don't worry, this is the last few feet," Bryenn called down to us from another ten feet up. "After that it's just straight walking."

"How do you even know where you're going?" I asked, pausing both for a short breath and to scan the surroundings. "It's like a maze... out of all these trees it would be impossible to know which ones to climb to get to the top without hitting a dead end."

Bryenn looked down from a few branches up with a smirk. "The village is populated by fairies. Little guys and girls about half our size with wings."

"I know that," I said. "But how does that explain it?"

"Let me finish," he said. He sat down cross-legged on his branch as if he knew I was making conversation for the sake of a break. "I did get lost at first. I kept climbing but always ended up somewhere where the branches became too thin or I couldn't reach the next one. But just when I was going to make my way back to Henesys I ran into another traveler. He wasn't a hunter I don't think, but he seemed really strong. He had this really creepy, emo-looking jet black hair and clothes like I'd never seen before. He showed me the path as easily as if he had been through here a million times."

"Do any humans live in Ellinia?" Barbarius tossed up. "I mean, if there were, I'm sure anyone who lived here would know this forest like the back of their hand, right?"

"A very few do, that's only because most fairies aren't very welcome to outsiders. They cut magicians a break since they like their magic and magicians usually only stick around on the short term anyway." Bryenn mused something over in his head for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe he did, but he seemed even creepier than the whole forest itself. He kept going on about how monsters are actually necessary to our survival... something about a nature cycle... or something. I'm not exactly sure, he was confusing, but it was creepy as hell."

"He had to be mad," I shrugged, getting back up and ready to continue. I took a bite out of a nearby mushroom growing next to me for nutrition. "If something like that were true, it would be common knowledge."

"Nem's right," Barbarius said, tripping over another uneven step before making his way up to where Bryenn was waiting. "He probably just ate some bad mushrooms or something."

I turned around and choked on mine before spitting it out.

"Something wrong, Nem?" Bryenn called, now starting the trek again.

"I'm fine... and don't you start calling me that too!"

Another half an hour or so passed before we made it to Ellinia. Barbarius was particularly relieved considering an odd-looking part of a branch turned out to be a monster that bit into his leg before he tore it apart with his dagger. Bryenn had nursed the wound with a small healing spell, but it didn't appease his frustration with the forest. Especially after realizing the city was built vertically in the trees.

I, however, thought I had never seen anything more amazing in my life. My first thought upon coming across the village was that _this_ was what I left my home in Kerning for. There were flowers all over with drooping stems that fell over into bell-shaped petals of all colors. The buildings were all well-crafted from wood and each decorated with gorgeous colors that could only come from fairies. There was an oval-shaped one decorated with various flowers stemming in circles all the way around supported by a tree branch that curled around the bottom. Another one at the very top of the village was built onto a branch that must have been forty feet thick that had a symbol with two overlapping star symbols carved onto the roof. Even the light making its way through the trees had some sort of sparkle to it. This beautiful city really showed off what a mess Kerning was. Ellinia didn't even look like it had ever seen crime in all its years.

As if on cue, a woman ran past us, almost bumping into Bryenn and knocking him over in a frenzy. She turned back for a moment to apologize and tried to run off again before Bryenn called after her asking what was wrong.

"Please, please..." she stumbled on her words, panting as she spoke. She was a slightly heavier looking woman with clothes that looked homemade. "My... my son..."

"Calm down, tell us what's wrong," Bryenn said, putting his arms on her shoulders. "Maybe we can help."

"Yeah, you're just going to hurt someone like that," Barbarius pitched in, getting a quick kick in the shin from Bryenn.

She seemed to catch her breath a bit. "We were out picking berries for supper from the Tree that Grew nearby, and... and..."

"And... what?" I asked, a little impatient as it seemed obvious what she was going to say next.

"And a monster attacked us." The tears started in, as if what happened was just coming together in her head now. "He must be alive, because he fell through the tunnel to Sleepywood, but... but... The monsters are so strong just outside of Sleepywood that I don't know how I'm going to get him back!"

"That sounds like a job for us!" Bryenn exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. "We'll go to Sleepywood and bring him back, okay?"

"Um, Bryenn..." I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him aside. "I think this is more of a job for a hunter rather than a trio of rookies."

"Nemo, I've already looked around, hunters don't hang around here in Ellinia, it's too out of the way. We're the only chance she's got."

"Then why don't we just ask a fairy to fly to Henesys for help? I didn't think you were so daft to just charge into the Victoria Dungeon to find Sleepywood after learning a couple spells that you haven't even fought very much with yet!" I was just saying that to try and convince him out of it though. The sad thing was I _did_ think he was that daft.

"Listen, this could be our chance for a good reputation right from the get-go, Nemo! If we can do this, we'll be ready to join a guild for sure."

"I think he's right, Nem," Barbarius butted in. "It can't be all that bad, come on."

"You wouldn't know," I said, frustration creeping into my voice. "There's a reason we're not in a guild yet. You in particular, Barbarius, you've never even fought a monster in your life until that stupid stump a few minutes ago, and you really shouldn't even be out here with us. Listen, Kerning was a total pit, I have your back on that one, but there's no way we're ready for this."

"Maybe he's right, Bry..." Barbarius agreed, defeated.

"No way," Bryenn cried over the little huddle we were in. "I can't just turn my back on someone in need."

"We're not turning our back, we're finding someone who can actually do the job. Consider that your first step to being a hunter rather than diving headlong into a den of creatures that'll kick your ass before eating it."

"You have to have a little more faith in ourselves, and Barbarius too," Bryenn said, softened. "We'll never get anywhere if we don't try." With that, he turned around to the woman and said, "Sorry about that, and don't worry. We'll get your son back one way or another, trust us."

My head hit the palm of my hand.

"Oh thank you so much! You have no idea how scared I am for him!"

Before I could even argue, Bryenn had charged off for who-knew-where without even looking back.

"Oh, um... did I tell you what he looked like?" she asked me.

"No, I was just going to ask you since it seems hardhead there's already gone without any information about what he's doing," I scoffed. "Looks like I have no choice now. He's just going to get himself lost or killed since he doesn't even know who he's looking for." I glanced at Barbarius before I continued. "I wouldn't even care so much if I didn't know you were going to try and help him no matter what I said."

"You're damn right," he said, starting a jog after Bryenn.

"Ugh..." I groaned. "This oughta be fun..."

"Actually..." the woman glanced in their direction. "They're going the wrong way."

"Of course they are." I at least got a little chuckle from that. Maybe they wouldn't even be in any danger since they'd just get lost here in Ellinia. But better to be sure. "Okay ma'am, who are we looking for?"

"Okay, this should be the one," I said, staring up at the tree we were standing next to. We were already about two-hundred feet in the air when we got to the city. This one, dubbed "The Tree that Grew," must have stood yet another three hundred feet up, clearing the rest around it by at least a hundred. "Are you serious?"

"We have to, Nemo, come on," Bryenn said with authority. "That kid's waiting in Sleepywood for someone to bring him home. His mother's not even going to eat supper tonight worrying about him."

"What a tragedy..."

Several hours later it was almost nightfall. Slowly, as it got darker, the entire forest began to be lit up by fireflies. It was an extraordinary sight, and there were so many of them shining bright enough that it was almost even brighter than daytime.

"Did anyone bring water, or... or, some potion, or anything?" Barbarius whined. "This is taking forever!"

"We didn't have to be doing this you know," I snapped back.

"Hey guys, I think this is it," Bryenn called out from a few branches above us again. He seemed to have limitless energy. "Yeah, a tunnel made from really slick wood. This has to be. Hey! It even has Sleepywood carved onto the side of it. Come on!"

By the time Barbarius and I made it up, Bryenn had already jumped in with an echoing, "Woah!"

"Reckless idiot.." I mumbled. "Okay, let's do this. You first."

"Me!?" Barbarius exclaimed. "Why me first?"

"Well, second actually. Metalhead took the first dive. You were the one who wanted to follow him anyway."

"Well you were going to let him get lost or killed, I had to."

"Doesn't change it."

"Ugh, fine."

He nervously took a seat at the edge, and I took the liberty of shoving him down. He grabbed my arm as I did and we slid down one after another toward the city at the heart of the Victorian Dungeon, Sleepywood.

We crashed into one another at the bottom and before we could even stand back up we were quickly greeted by an official-looking woman in a white uniform.

"Welcome to the Sleepywood Spa and Sauna!" she called out delightfully. "We are so glad you could join us today! Right now we have a special on for-"

She was cut off as an extremely loud roar came from outside, right before one of the walls of the sauna was blown apart. The woman shrieked and jumped behind the counter. A giant brown, human-like monster came storming through the broken wall soon after and it was quickly clear how the wall was torn down so easily. It's claws were the size of its head, which was equally enormous sitting on its body. Its teeth were absolutely menacing, but the worst thing about it was its eyes. They had red pupils surrounded completely by black. Just looking at it made my heart want to stop.

"You glad we did this now, Bry!?" I yelled.

"Rrrrrrraaaaagh!" A familiar blonde-headed voice yelled like a battle cry as the figure it came from ran in after the beast, jumped on its back and dove his sword into its neck.


	9. 8: Knights of the Little Round Table

**Chapter 8**

_One day previously._

"Congratulations, Schim, you're officially an honorary member of the Amaranth guild." Calydon smiled at me from across the table. "I hope you understand if we skip the formalities."

I nodded and went along with it. A group of us were sitting at a small table that miraculously survived the onslaught on Lith Harbour. It was just placed in the middle of the port rather than inside anywhere, as the buildings were pretty beaten up anyway and this way we could spot incoming attackers. Calydon had voiced his thoughts earlier, however, saying he thought we wouldn't even have to worry about a snail now that Lith was considered over with in the monsters' eyes. His theory is that the monsters aren't so stupid after all. Well, some of them anyway.

There were seven of us clustered around the little table, each having found our own makeshift chairs from the wreckage. Calydon was the only one I already knew, and not very well.

"I want you to meet our division leaders from each city, Schimmel. First off, this is Mitso of Henesys." He pointed to a man with a slightly darker looking skin tone and very short black hair.

"This old man here's Grendel of Ellinia." An older man with a pointed hat and long grey robe symbolic of a magician.

"Jay of Perion." A very muscular man with dark skin and a spear tied to his back.

"Koslow from Kerning." A somewhat short girl with black hair that fell perfectly into a spikey pattern.

"And last but most definitely not least, Aya from Orbis." A rather attractive girl dressed in only a yellow tanktop, blue jeans, and donning a long, pink ponytail.

They each nodded respectively, except for Aya who happened to be sitting next to me who flattered me with a funny wink.

"Actually," Calydon continued, "I'm glad you could make it, Aya. I didn't know Orbis had received the news already."

"We knew right away you know," she said matter-of-factly. "There was a young boy sitting over the looking tower atop Orbis who said he saw an island sink. When I saw for myself I simply used my power to run here."

"That's why I like your position in Orbis, Aya. If trouble pops up here, anyone else would be stranded on Orbis." Calydon smiled.

"So what're we going to do about this?" Jay seemed annoyed with the small talk. He spoke with a harsh tone. "Apparently some insane monster that's developed a little intelligence has an issue with our species."

"Don't worry about it, we can take 'em!" Aya seemed a little too optimistic.

"Think about what you're saying, Aya," Grendel critisized. He had a slow, calculating attitude. "Think about all the monsters there are in Victoria and Ossyria. All of them between cities, in the mountains of Perion, the forests of Ellinia, the Orbis Tower, Cursed Sanctuary, El Nath caves... not even to mention Ludibrium and Leafre. Imagine how many there must be, I think we're outnumbered here."

"We may be outnumbered," Mitso said. "But I think we have a large advantage from intelligence and much more power per person on average. We just need a plan."

"The plan should be to make the first attack and just wipe them out." Koslow pointed out simply.

"Okay, guys," Calydon interrupted as it looked like Grendel and Mitso were about to challenge Koslow's statement. "First of all, we need to prepare all of our cities' defenses for attacks as soon as possible. They're monsters, so they're going to attack sooner without a plan rather than later with a plan. As for our offense plan..."

After a moment of hesitation, he spoke, "I don't think we have any choice now but to try Torrence's plan again."

Everyone seemed to go silent. As if they were all ominously agreeing.

"Um... what's that?" I finally spoke up. They all looked at me like I had just sprouted horns and wings. "Okay, I was intensely sheltered when I was growing up, and considering Leafre can you really blame my mother?" That made them quit it.

"I'm afraid I'm not so sure about this, Calydon," Grendel said thoughtfully after a moment, breaking the silence. "Call me an old superstitious fool, but everywhere we've tried to enact Torrence's old plan has ended... well, rather badly. First Leafre, then Ludibrium, you know."

"I'm afraid I have to agree," Mitso said tossing in his two cents. "We should find a new, more recent plan. One the monsters won't expect. We can't afford to lose Victoria of all places too."

"Uh, excuse me..." I said weakly, trying to get someone to explain.

"Nah man, Caly's right," Jay proclaimed, standing up and resting his fists on the table in order to make a strong point. "We've gotta do it and take 'em out quick before they can do what they did to Leafre and Ludi, that's all."

"My Jay man's right," Aya said enthusiastically, making her stand next to Jay. "We just gotta make sure we do it quickly _and_ quietly so that the monsters won't know what hit 'em! Koslow can pull something like this off with her eyes closed, right Kos?"

Koslow sat calmly with her arms crossed and her eyes downward. "Let's just wipe them the hell out."

The arguement continued for another few minutes. Calydon watched while Grendel and Mitso argued with Jay and Aya over what to do, and Koslow seemed to be on a side of her own. I still had no idea what was going on.

"Hey guys!" I finally yelled. "What the hell is going on? What are you talking about?"

Calydon finally stood up, silencing everyone. It seemed he was well respected. "Okay, everyone. I'm going to go for a walk with Schimmel and catch him up. You guys try and resolve this dispute amongst yourselves for a while." He caught my gaze then and said, "Shall we?"

The harbour glowed with a crimson red now as the sun was almost set. It gave the remains of the city of Lith a suitable, depressing glow. My mind kept flashing back to Leafre as Calydon and I strolled along the pier.

"I guess I should say it's good to finally have to opportunity to work alongside my childhood friend after all these years," Calydon said with a forced smile. "If only it were under better circumstances."

"Well I guess since neither of us remember it anyway," I forced a small chuckle, "It's good to finally meet you. For real this time."

He nodded, and stumbled on what he was saying now, trying to find the right words. "Well, I suppose... I mean I guess I should ask... But you, um... you really know nothing about your father?" He stopped walking and stared deep into my eyes as if trying to see something that wasn't there.

"No," I replied simply. "I mean he completely disappeared after my mom and I made it to Orbis. All I know is what I hear, but never anything detailed. I want to know why everyone keeps wondering whether he's alive or dead, what he's so famous for, and what plan you're talking about now that he had back when I was still a baby."

I made my way over to the side of the pier overlooking the water and sat down, Calydon following. I stared into the water for a long while, and now that I had a moment to finally rest my thoughts ever since the attack on Lith Harbour, I found myself starting to tell Calydon all about my earliest memories.

_18 Years Ago_

"I can't believe it's Schimmy's second birthday tomorrow!" My mother was hovering over the stove making her specialty brunch, a western omelette with hashbrowns and chocolate milk. She was still carrying a bit of weight from the pregnancy even from so long ago, but her emerald green eyes and long golden hair distracted anyone from ever noticing.

"Isn't it incredible?" My father, sitting next to me at the table, forced an absent smile, seemingly distracted by something. He looked quite different from my mother. Tall and well-built, he had black hair and piercing blue eyes. "Our sons birthday will be on the same day that our world will no longer have to always worry about the monsters."

My mother sighed and turned around, suddenly peeved off. "Why are _you_ always worrying about the monsters, Torr? Can't you just be home for Schimmy's birthday instead of galavanting off to some monster hunt?"

"Chrissy, honey, it's not that simple," Torrence stood up and put his arm around her, turning them away from me, as if that was going to stop me from hearing them. I didn't quite understand what they were talking about at the time anyway, but the memory of that whole day was still etched in my mind, so I never forgot. "Grendel is next door right this moment with the formula that can get rid of the monsters from the world for good, but we don't know what could happen between now and then. It's a better sooner than later thing, dear."

"Yes, I understand that," she said, the frustration not wavering. "But it's not like we're in any immediate danger. Why can't you just put it off for one day to spend it with your son on his birthday?"

"Listen, I'm under the impression that-"

CRASH. My father was brutally interrupted by an enormous sound that sounded quite destructive. Torrence jumped where he stood and ran to the window. What he saw made his eyes open wide. I'll never forget that look on his face, followed by an even worse one crossing my mother's that was contagious.

"Listen, honey," Torrence turned and placed his hands on my mother's shoulders and spoke quickly. "We need to move quickly, we have to leave here and head to the boat at the docks."

"What... what did you do? You knew this was going to happen? What's going on, Torrence!?" My mother started screaming.

CRASH.

"Okay, honey, I know you're upset but you have to listen," Torrence spoke with more urgency now. "You need to take Schimmy with you and follow me. I didn't think it would be this soon..." He said the last part more to himself.

My mother nodded, even in disapproval. She rushed over to take me in her arms while my father left the room. He came back a moment later with an unsheathed sword held firmly in both hands. It was unique for its black aerial creature design close to the hilt, and the intricate design that led from the tip of the creature's wing all the way to the tip of the blade.

The sights between leaving the house and getting to the docks were the worst. My mother tried to shield me, holding my head into her shoulder, but I looked up anyway, as a curious infant does. I wondered why bulidings were on fire... why there people lying down all over the once-foliage decorated city... I wondered what the destructive sounding noises were coming from all around... the screams... the roar of the creatures... There were centaur creatures throwing spears, stone turtles that made lava wherever they stamped their feet, giant armored beasts with polearms that seemed to conduct lightning, and dragons that turned the green city of Leafre a dark shade of red.

Even more amazing than all this was my father. He protected us with the power he had. He would make swords rain from the sky as if from nowhere, cutting apart as many of the monsters as he could. Still others he would wave his sword to make an odd wave of light flash from it, causing it to cut through a monster without even having to touch it. My mother screamed as a dragon tried to blast fire at him from behind. Torrence heard the warning, and turned quickly enough to completely deflect the fire with another odd spell before throwing a wave of light at it, cutting it down before it knew what happened.

We made it to the dock. I'm sure everything was a blur to them by now. But me, I was taking it all in. Studying every last detail of the horrific scene that was taking place before me. Approaching the flying ship, I could see it was green and decorated with delicate leaves like the rest of the city, yet they were still intact. It also adorned giant white wings, that were also the surrounding monster's target. We made it just in time for my father to stop the monsters from wrecking the ship. Thankfully the captain was onboard, along with a group of people that had ran here in hopes of safety, including an old wizard who I now knew was Grendel.

The engine of the ship started up and the wings started flapping, but nothing happened as the monsters kept approaching and my father kept picking them off. He was becoming too tired though. Now that I think back I believe the ship was waiting, hoping, praying for more people to make it aboard before taking off. Torrence gave the captain a signal, and soon after the engine roared much loader and the wings went to full speed. The ship lifted off, and we flew through the clouds of black smoke as we looked down upon the newly crimson Leafre.

"That's all I remember," I said, finishing my story. The tears had finally started now as the full effect of the devastation of Lith being so similar to Leafre had finally hit me. It had happened again, but this time I should've taken the place of my father as the hero. But I was no hero. I couldn't save a single person. My life was spared for reasons I can't even understand, and tomorrow we're going to have to bury the dead.

"Schim..." Calydon was speechless. It had now occurred to me that if Calydon and I were friends back then he would have been there. Just as that thought came to mind, a long forgotten memory came to me that he had moved away just a few short weeks before.

"If I had only been stronger, you know? I must have been put here today, like my father was before me, to try and help in a time of crisis like this. To protect people, whoever I could, from the wrath of these damn monsters. I couldn't even save one. The dragon just tossed me aside like I was nothing."

"Schimmel, there's nothing you could have done," Calydon said seriously. "Torrence was an incredibly powerful hunter, along the lines of our Koslow, you can't compare youself to him, not yet."

"No," I said, more to myself than to him. I shaped up now as I wiped my eyes. "This is why I became a hunter. To become stronger. The monsters took my father, and my whole life away from me, and I'm going to take it back. There has to still be something I can do."

"There is," Calydon said confidently. "You can still make sure what your father was looking to do come to pass."

"Tell me what that is, and I'll stop at nothing to make sure it happens."

"When your father went missing, he told Grendel he was heading back to Leafre to find the formula for a virus that infects only monsters with a highly contagious, lethal virus. He hasn't been seen since, and we know if even Torrence can't handle Leafre, we don't stand a chance. But if we can gather the ingredients of that formula, Grendel can make another one, and I think you can do it. That's why I wanted you in the guild now."

I nodded my agreement, having a huge wave of relief lifted off my shoulders having now finally gotten the information I was looking for about my father for so long. The sun had finally set, and it was now completely dark all over the harbour. The few night lights that still worked around the city lit up, allowing us to find our way back.

"Hey, calling all knights of the little round table," Calydon called out with a wave as the group finally came back into sight. "What's the verdict?"

"We decided to go with your plan, boss," Mitso announced on behalf of everyone. "We decided it's better to strike quickly and efficently. That, and we couldn't really come up with anything else."

"Fantastic!" Calydon said excitedly. "But what did I say about you calling me boss?" He patted me on the shoulder as he said his next words. "Anyway, I'll be glad to have you all know that we have our main player in Operation Sick'em right here."


	10. 9: Cut the Sobfest

** Chapter 9**

The following day finally arrived after a sleepless night under the stars being pounded by the cold port town winds of Lith Harbour. Well, what was left of it anyway. The seven of us that were there, past the disaster zone barriers that the public were not allowed into, grimly cleaned up the remains until morning came. We made a cemetary and marked graves with stones from the pieces of buildings. Upon finishing, we all took a few moments of silence before everyone headed back to their respective cities. Jay to Perion, Koslow to Kerning, Mitso and Calydon to Henesys, Grendel to Ellinia, and Aya to Orbis. I stayed here in Lith Harbour, however, still not completely over the tragedy I was caught smack in the middle of.

To pass the time I gathered flowers from just outside the village and made bouquets to place on the graves as if it were some sort of meaningless apology. I took comfort that there were only about thirty at most as alot of residents had left the city either to find help or run for their lives. These were just the ones that didn't make it in time. I also felt somewhat more secure, now that it came to mind, that Maple Island was evacuated before it disappeared. The sun was still just lifting off from the horizon as I made my peace with it, and was almost ready to move on. I was sitting on the edge of the dock where Shanks' boat would be pulling in right about now when I heard footsteps approaching.

"Raquen, you're not even allowed here," I said after I turned my head to see who it was. As usual, Astreryl was close behind. "That, and I'm really not in the mood."

"Oh, cut the sobfest, Orrison. I come in peace." He sat down next to me, and Astreryl on his other side. He was now adorning a very high-quality fullbody chain mail armor that was specifically made for swordsmen. It was mostly white but with a blue cross on the chest. "I jumped to conclusions earlier about your father, and I apologize."

I stared at him blankly for a moment, hardly believing it. His deep blue eyes somehow showed some level of sincerity to his words. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about when I tried to force you to tell me where your father was. I realized after this that if you were in contact with him you would have handled something like this at least a little better." He finished with a small smirk. Astreryl weakly slapped him on the arm as if she was upset, but there was a giggle in her voice that made it more playful, and annoying.

I rolled my eyes, ready to toss him into the water and let that stupid armor drag him down with it. "Listen, you were sent away after yesterday because this area's off limits, and I know you didn't come here just to apologize. So get to the point."

"Haha, don't let being in Amaranth get to your head now, you only got in because of Torrence, and because Calydon seems to have a thing for you."

I pretended to ignore him as I turned my attention back to the water below us.

"Okay, Schimmel, here's the deal." My attention turned again when he seemed to talk more seriously and actually called me by my first name. "I need to get into Amaranth, and you need someone to make you look better than you do before your guildmates isolate you. Even if Calydon let you in for other than what I said, it still seems like that from the outside and you know it. People aren't going to respect that. What you need is a team. Calydon wants to try the virus plan again, right?"

I stared at him in shock amazement. Maybe there is something in that thick skull of his. All I could say was, "Yes... how did you know all that?"

"Just intuition." Far more intuition than I wanted to give him credit for, but he was right and there was no other way to explain it. He continued, "My father was in Amaranth. He was part of one of the search parties into the depths of the Ludibrium toy factory after the monster surge that started there. He was one of the few who came back, but he was never the same. Right now he's at the mental hospital in Kerning, likely still claiming he's a bear and screaming obscenities about the world dying."

"I don't know what to say."

"It's the same with Astreryl's mother." He held her hand as he spoke now. "She wanders the plains around Henesys looking for wounded monsters to heal and telling stories of the mana they contain that keeps the cycle of life energy flowing in the world."

"Do you believe any of it?" I asked.

"I want to, but I don't know. We think there's something down there that drastically altered their minds and makes them think of some twisted story of how monsters are good. Looking at this though..." His thoughts wandered as he glanced around Lith Harbour. "It doesn't matter. They're the rantings of mad people now, their minds were destroyed by something in that factory. It's not really a toy factory, you know. Ludibrium city has been around for as long as history, including the toy factory. It's believed that whatever's down there is creating the monsters in the world, but the monsters around it are so powerful no one's ever been able to do anything about it."

"So if it were to be destroyed, the monsters would stop?"

"Theoretically. But it's impossible. The virus is a far more efficient plan. Torrence was the only one who knew how to create it though, which is why I was so desperately looking for him."

"Hm..." I fell into silent thought yet again, contemplating everything he had said. I was surprised it came from him of all people. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

"So, is that Calydon's plan right now? To find Torrence and learn how to make it?"

I collected my thoughts for a moment while I rested my hand on the pocket that contained the ingredient list Calydon had given me. He had told me to keep it entirely to myself, as it's dangerous in the wrong hands. On the other hand, though, I needed help and what Raquen had said before was true. I was never going to get anywhere without someone on my side. It was clear Amaranth wasn't going to be due to my reputation and my total failure to live up to it. They were just going to look down at me for being let in the guild so easily, and make my life miserable. I didn't even have to chance it to find out, it was common sense. Human nature.

"No," I said. "I don't know how to make it, but I have the ingredients now. We can at least collect them and learn the rest later."

"Is this true?" He said with surprise. His eyes almost seemed to turn a brighter blue. I reached for the paper in my pocket and showed him. "Hm... orange, blue, and zombie mother mushroom spores, king slime liquid, balrog claw, and pianus fin?"

"That's right. Supposedly a man going by the name Sabitrama in Sleepywood knows where to collect them all too."

"It looks like that's where we're starting then. Shall we set off?"

"Ah, so the forces are at work once again," Sabitrama mused, sitting cross-legged just outside a building marked "Sleepywood Spa and Sauna". Raquen, Astreryl and myself had finally found who we were looking for after taking a taxi to Sleepywood within the Victoria Dungeon and asking around the incredibly small village. Sabitrama was probably as old as Grendel, which was really old. He was tanned, dressed only in a toga and had six red dots on his forehead in a vertical rectangular shape. While he looked over the list, I took in my surroundings. The houses were made of unpainted wood and the nails could clearly be seen as if they were all done by amateurs. Being underground, roots from the trees could be seen hanging down from the earth up above making me wonder how the place was stable. Even with the area being so primitive, there was some kind of magical aura hanging thick in the air that I couldn't put my finger on. It felt like a very spiritual place.

"Yes," Sabitrama spoke after a long pause. "What you seek are the components to a very potent strain of virus called Gray. One that does not affect human life, but instead only those which are mana-bearing creatures."

"Mana-bearing creatures?" Raquen inquired. "Aren't humans mana-bearing also? How would Astreryl cast her spells?"

"Ah, no my child. We humans gather our mana from the small quantities of free-roaming mana in the air, enacted then by our own physical energy and thus transformed into a form in which our spirit desires," Sabitrama explained.

"Okay then," I interrupted before Raquen could further pursue the topic. Having recently learned how brainy he actually is, I knew if I let it go on I'd be here for hours. "So could you tell us where to find these ingredients, please?"

"I could..." Sabitrama stopped to pause yet again. A few moments later he continued, "It will not cost you anything for this information. However, I must warn you it is not advised you take this path in your journey. There will be no good to become of it. If you insist, however..."

"Please. You have to tell us," I begged as I sat down in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes. "I believe that the fate of the world depends on it, and I can't let myself down again. I have to do this."

"Very well..." He grabbed a pencil from a pocket hidden inside his toga and began writing. When he handed it back to me he said, "There you are. I wish you luck in all your future endeavors. May Cygnus be with you."

We didn't even get a chance to look at it before we heard a deafening roar coming from a cave nearby looking like it led deeper underground.

"That sounded like..." My face turned pale and my heart sunk as I recognized that painfully familiar roar. I turned to Raquen and Astreryl and said quickly, "We have to go. _Now!_"

"I should have known!" The creature called from beyond the cave as it stepped into view. It was as menacing as ever. It's teeth showing uninhibited rage and it's red eyes piercingly sharp.

"Get back, foul demon!" Sabitrama jumped up from sitting, crossed his two index fingers which seemed to put up a barely visible force field that was meant to block the demon from leaving it's cave.

"Maybe your spell would work on the creatures in my Ant Tunnel, pitiful human," it spoke calmly, "But you can't hold me!" With that it raised its giant claws and tore through the barrier like paper. It must have been connected to Sabitrama somehow, as he was thrown back to the ground some ten feet away upon it breaking.

"Shit!" I cried. "We're outta here!"

"What are you talking about?" Raquen held me firmly before I could make a mad dash for the hurriedly fleeing taxi. "That's a balrog! We need it's claw!"

With that Raquen darted past me and took a swing at it with his sword, Astreryl following suit. Just before the sword connected, Astreryl raised her staff casting a spell on Raquen's sword that made it glow with a white light and helped it cut clean through part of its claw, which dropped to the ground with a thud. The demon roared again loudly and swiped the other one. Raquen tried to hold up his sword to block it, but he was thrown against the wall of the sauna building.

It all happened so quickly my mind couldn't process it and it felt like I was frozen. All I could think about were the people running and screaming. As many people as the taxi could fit had jumped in as it sped off. The others quickly gathered their makeshift spears and bows and ran off towards the entrance of the dungeon. As I watched Raquen get thrown into the wall of the sauna it all snapped into my head once again. How I was thrown away by the dragon. The terrifying roars and screams. The sick look on that demon's face. As I watched it approach Raquen, who was now in pain and struggling to move, Astreryl running towards him screaming and casting spells that just bounced off its back, I ran towards it before I knew what was happening.

"This is _not_ happening again!" I yelled. I called to Astreryl as I passed her. "Hit my sword with that same spell you used before!"

The demon's claw slammed through the wall behind Raquen just as he jumped out of the way. My sword started glowing, and I knew Astreryl had gotten the spell off. Now that the wall was broken I could see some people in the sauna who seemed as though they were huddling together in the corner and I lost the rest of my control.

"Rrrrrrraaaaagh!" I let loose as I jumped onto the creatures back, planting my sword into its neck.


End file.
